Whatever it Takes
by God's Demonic Messenger
Summary: Shepard has gone on a rampage killing thousands of military servicemen and C-Sec officers with the help of his Geth Allies. Motivations unclear, the Galaxy must recover from the blow in order to protect against this highly trained and dangerous soldier.RR
1. Chapter 1

"Commander Shepard! Commander Shepard, can I ask you a few questions," Emily Wong said from outside the elevator for the Citadel Tower. She had a camera man next to her and had a small microphone attached to the front of her blouse.

Shepard responded, "No, sorry Emily, I don't have the time."

At the sight of Ms. Wong's obvious dismay Shepard said, "Tell you what, if things go well today I'll contact you for the interview of your career."

He strode with Legion and Garrus in tow into the elevator and activated it. "You two ready for this," Shepard asked.

Legion responded with a quick 'acknowledged' and Garrus said, "I'm with you Shepard. I'm ready for this."

"Good. I'm hoping it doesn't come to that but we'll see," Shepard said as the elevator slowed to a stop at the top of the Citadel Tower. The team began the short walk up the steps to the Council auditorium.

Once near the top they each checked their weapons and the bags full of heatsinks for problems and, finding none, proceeded to the Master Control platform where the four members of the council were waiting.

"Shepard, what is it this time," the Turian Councilor asked in his customary snide voice. "You better not be wasting our time with more delusional stories about the 'Reapers'," he continued.

Shepard shared a glance with Garrus before responding, "Well councilor, you asked for proof, and I've brought it. Take a look at these schematics." Shepard accessed his Omnitool and transferred the schematics EDI obtained from the Collector base to the terminals of all four councilors.

The four councilors spend a few minutes reviewing the information before Anderson says, "See, proof that the Reapers exist. We have to mobilize the militaries, inform the people!"

The Salarian councilor responds, "This is far from conclusive evidence, Anderson. For all we know these could be falsified, and we have only the words of an asari justicar and a salarian scientist to validate this. Both could be lying as they serve Shepard, and at least one of them could be senile. Hardly sound witnesses." He continued, "I have experience with reading schematics, and I see several warning signs that this information has been tampered with. Shepard is lying."

"What? Shepard brings you proof of the existence of the Reapers and you shrug it off as fake? That is ridiculous, I'm a member of this council and I won't stand for it," Anderson says, his anger clearly showing.

"You go beyond the rights of a Councilor, Anderson, and your history with Shepard makes your judgment suspect," the Asari councilor said in a level voice. She continued, "We recognize that you respect Shepard and that you trust him, but you are allowing your feelings to affect your actions as a Councilor. We cannot act on our own feelings, we must weigh all judgments with the evidence, and Shepard has presented no evidence we can trust."

Shepard and his team watched quietly as these exchanges went on; becoming more and more tense, preparing for what may become necessary.

"No evidence you can trust? He had a Justicar vouch for him councilor, you of all people should know what that means," Anderson said.

"As a member of the Citadel Council I have to let go of my cultural ties in order to make decisions acceptable to my station. I can't allow any one member of my species, no matter their cultural significance for my people, to affect how I behave," the Asari Councilor said.

"That's ridiculous," Anderson said in defeat.

Shepard said quietly to his team, "Plan B."

"Acknowledged," Legion said. With that he leapt across the space between the Council and Shepard's team.

"What the-" was all the Asari Councilor had time to say before Legion knocked her out with a blow to the head. He then fought the remaining councilors until all three were incapacitated. Then he shot each of them in the leg with his pistol.

Shepard tossed Legion a roll of rope from one of their bags which Legion used to tie up the three unconscious councilors.

The shocked spectators finally snapped out of it and began screaming and running for the nearest exits. The tower was empty within five minutes.

After he had tossed the rope to Legion, Shepard went to the balcony on the left of the council chambers and proceeded to climb it. Garrus did the same on the right side. They both hacked the doors on those levels to ensure they couldn't open. Legion crouched behind the Council pedestals, pulling out his Widow in the process. Once all members of the team were in their positions with weapons drawn, they waited.

Before long, sirens could be heard and the elevator at the end of the Citadel Tower could be seen moving from the outside. As soon as the doors opened to reveal a dozen C-Sec agents the first shots were fired. Garrus, Shepard, and Legion shot three men dead with their sniper rifles, and killed the remaining agents before they reached the first set of stairs. This was repeated for the next several minutes with dead C-Sec agents piling up in front of the elevator.

The Normandy had since gone silent and had slipped away from the Citadel Fleet to hide on one of the Arms of the Citadel. But the Normandy was soon to be the least of the Fleets worries.


	2. Chapter 2

"Sir, we can't find it," Gunnery officer Tam said.

"What do you mean you can't find it," Captain Doren barked in response. He paced across the bridge in agitation as he continued, "It's one ship, and we have sensors, find it!"

"The original Normandy was equipped with stealth systems that could defeat our sensors, this new Normandy is probably also equipped with stealth systems," Commander Smith said.

"Dammit, that's it, we are combing this area until we get a visual on that ship," Captain Doren said.

"Sir, incoming vessels! Oh my God, there's hundreds of them," Gunnery officer Tam said, his fear barely contained.

Captain Doren whispered, staring at the mass of ships that had just jumped in system, "Officer Tam, give me an exact count."

Gunnery Officer Tam responded in a somewhat shrill voice, "33,739 Geth Warships Captain."

"God help us, everyone to battle stations! Helmsman Taylor, bring us around," Captain Doren yelled.

Taylor responded after much fiddling with his console, "I can't, systems nonresponsive, I think they've hacked our system!"

"Ensign Lovelace, open a line to the other vessels, I want to know how many have been hacked," Doren said.

Lovelace tried unsuccessfully to communicate with the other vessels, "No go Captain, comms are offline."

"Well that's just perfect. We're sitting ducks who can't even call for reinforcements. Some defenders we are," Doren said under his breath. "Gunnery Officer Tam, I want a full accounting on what they're doing, I want to know when they are lined up to fire on us," Doren said aloud.

Over the next five minutes, Doren saw the Geth destroy over a dozen warships through a methodical sweep.

"Shepard is going to pay for this," Doren said in fury.

"Sir, look," Ensign Lovelace said, pointing out the window. Following his finger, Captain Doren saw a small ship leaving the shadow of the Zakera Ward; the Normandy.

"Son of a… That bastard was hiding right under our noses," Doren said with disgust. He walked over to the window and watched as the Normandy docked with the Citadel briefly then proceeded towards the mass relay. After it had passed through the Relay the Geth vessels could be seen getting in formation and then they too jumped out system.

"Sir, systems back online," Tam said.

"Good, get in contact with the remaining ships, find out what the hell just happened. And somebody find out if Shepard took the Council or not," Doren said.


	3. Chapter 3

The bodies of the C-Sec officers who attempted to save the Council were strewn all over the Council chambers, mostly concentrated at the base of the stairs. There was a pool of blood extending from the second tier all the way down the stairs to the first tier. The smell of dead flesh was beginning to be noticeable, and the smell of urine and feces was unmistakable.

Several C-Sec officers, a Spectre, and the Vice Admiral of the Citadel fleet were surveying the scene.

"297 shot, 129 burned, 167 blown to pieces, 97 electrocuted, no wounded, and the council gone. What the hell," Spectre Risha said. "He comes in here, shoots up all of C-Sec, takes the Council, then leaves, it doesn't make any sense," Risha continued.

"You don't need to understand him, you just need to find him," Vice Admiral Farla responded. "Track that team killing bastard to whatever hole he's hiding in, rescue the council, and kill him," he said.

Risha said in response, "Understood sir, I'm on it."

Risha then left to begin his search. He returned to his ship and departed the Citadel and spent the next three days receiving a rather underwhelming amount of intel from his contacts.


	4. Chapter 4

"What do you mean you can't find them? You monitor every Mass Relay in Citadel space, you have to have seen them at some point," Risha said in frustration to his contact Admiral Cole of the Alliance Fleet.

"We can't find them because we haven't seen them. The last time we saw them was when they left the Widow Nebula. Either they haven't been near a Relay or they have managed to fool our sensors, a thought I really don't want to contemplate," Cole said in response.

Risha took a moment to respond.

"Do you actually think it's possible that they fooled your sensors? That would help explain the Normandy's disappearance at the Citadel," Risha said in a quiet voice. "How though? All of our ships are equipped with new sensors that are capable of detecting the Normandy's level of stealth systems," He asked.

"Well, he has the Geth, maybe they've modified the Normandy's stealth systems," Cole suggested.

"Maybe, but I sure hope not. I-"

Just then, Risha saw an alert for an incoming transmission on his console. The ID wasn't one he recognized and no one knew his ship's address without being approved by him personally.

"I'll call you back Cole, something's just come up," Risha said and with that he disconnected with Cole and opened the new transmission.

"Councilor? Where are you," Risha exclaimed at the sight of the Turian Councilor on his screen. Upon further inspection of the Councilor's bloody face he asked, "Are you alright?"

"No, we are on the run from the geth and the Normandy in Shepard's shuttle. The Asari councilor used her biotics to knock back Shepard's geth trooper, stupid idiot never took her amp. We need you to get here fast, here are our coordi-"

He was interrupted by an explosion that rocked their craft. "Dammit, hurry up Risha, I don't know how long we can run from them!" the Turian Councilor screamed over the moans of his fellow councilors.

Risha took the coordinates that the Turian councilor forwarded to him and sent them to Vice Admiral Farla's fleet at the Citadel. "They'll be there councilor, just hold on. Stay on the line."

In just a few minutes the Fleet reached the coordinates, which were only a few thousand light years from the Relay in the Minos Wasteland.

"They're here," the Turian Councilor said relief evident in his voice. "Thank you Risha, you've just saved our lives."


	5. Chapter 5

The infirmary of the Citadel held the only wounded from Shepard's attack. The four councilors lay in their beds as Captain Doren and Vice Admiral Farla gave them the run down of Shepard's Geth fleet.

"Sirs and madame, the fleet that Shepard brought in had over 30,000 ships in it. They were able to hack the entire Citadel fleet and render it useless in less than a minute. We can't let this happen again," Vice Admiral Farla said.

"What do you suggest admiral," the Asari councilor asked.

Farla responded, "We need to find a way to protect against the hacking, and we need to build up the militaries. Shepard's forces are too numerous for us to defeat with what we have now."

Anderson said, "You actually think that Shepard would go to war with us?"

"Anderson, you are on bad ground as it is. You trusted Shepard and he betrayed us all. He shot you, what makes you think that you know what he will and won't do," the Turian Councilor spat.

Anderson had no choice but to acknowledge that he may not know Shepard as well as he thought he did and decided to stay silent.

"Build up the militaries Admiral, and increase patrols on all major colonies. I want to have at least as many ships as Shepard has, because we may not know about all his forces," the salarian councilor said.

"Understood councilor, I'll get right on it," Farla said.

Over the next several months the various militaries saw an exponential growth in troops and ships, as well as a technological revolution. But all activities were overshadowed by the possibility that Shepard could attack at any time and that all their hard work would mean nothing.


	6. Chapter 6

The newest Alliance frigate the Waterloo flew around the surface of Eden Prime on its patrol. The captain of the Waterloo, Commander Johnson, stood behind the helmsman, Ensign Lew.

"Look at that, the place where it all began. Shepard started here, and now we have to defend it from him. Sad," Johnson said to no one in particular. He watched silently as the dreadnought Rainier and its 7 cruiser companions passed over the Waterloo. There were a sum total of 927 warships in orbit over Eden Prime, hundreds of frigates, cruisers, and dreadnaughts.

Terra Nova had over 1,200 warships orbiting it, and all of Earth's major colonies had warships. Earth had the most, with over 2,000 warships orbiting and another 4,367 at Arcturus Station. Not only that, but all ships had anti-hacking technology on board as well as Stealth technology that bested anything Shepard had. They also had cloaking, making getting a visual impossible. Shepard may have the numbers, but the Alliance had the tech. Shepard wouldn't stand a chance.

"Sir, we have an anomaly," the ensign in charge of detection protocol said.

As Johnson walked over to the ensign's console he asked, "What is it ensign?"

"I don't know sir, there was a blip on the sensors and then it was gone. It may be a malfunction," the ensign responded.

Johnson slowly stroked his beard in thought, "Double check the systems, this is this vessel's shakedown run, it may have a few bugs that haven't been ironed out."

"Aye, sir," the ensign said.

As the ensign went about double checking the systems Johnson moved to the bridge window to look out at the surface of Eden Prime.

Just as he was about to turn away, he say a brief flash from just over the horizon. Then he saw his sister ship, the Gettysburg, explode in a burst of light and shredded metal.

"Ensign Avalos, get me the Rainier now," Johnson yelled in horror as he watched two more frigates explode, "And get this heap moving, Battle stations everybody, we are under attack!"


	7. Chapter 7

Johnny, go help Winston," Sergeant Williams yelled over the sound of gunfire. He watched as Pvt. John Stanley crossed the intervening space between himself and Corporal Winston's position. The sergeant had only a small platoon left, 2 dozen men.

"Whoever these bastards are they have some kickass shields. Too bad they're the bad guys," Winston yelled over the gunfire as he took cover again. "Jesus," he exclaimed as Sgt. Williams shot past his head at the alien that had just uncloaked behind Winston. He stared at the dead alien for a moment, gave his sergeant a nod, and popped out of cover to shoot at the aliens that had them pinned down in front of a loading bay.

"Hey Winston, you think we're going to have to fight those Zombies the geth make? I hate zombies," Johnny said when Winston had regained cover.

Winston took a minute to think about that before he said, "Hell man, if you're scared I'll protect you. Just don't make a move on me or I'll feed you to them." With a grin he took a blind shot over the cover he was behind.

"That's not what I-" Johnny didn't have time to finish because at that moment several dropships full of enemy troops landed 100 yards in front of them.

"What? More? I'm almost out of heatsinks, there's no way we can fight off all them," Winston said, staring in horror at the waves of troops heading his way.

"Winston, keep your head-" but it was too late, Winston was shot in the head enough times to leave nothing left on his shoulders.

"Dammit! Well boys, it's been an honor serving with you. Lets give 'em hell marines," Sergeant Williams said over his suit's intercom.

Just then, dark shapes could be seen coming towards them over horizon. When they were close enough, several of the enemy dropships were shot down.

"Sarge, did you see that? Reinforcements! We're gonna-" then Johnny saw the unmistakable silhouette of their rescuers, and confusion darkened his face. "What the…"


	8. Chapter 8

"Somebody get that fire out," Commander Johnson yelled. "Ensign, what just happened? Have we been hacked yet?"

"Sir, a shot hit our starboard thrusters and no, hacking attempts blocked by the anti-hacking protocols," the ensign responded.

Johnson looked out at the battlefield before him. He saw 30 some odd destroyed frigates, 10 destroyed cruisers, and 1 destroyed Dreadnought. Somehow Shepard had managed to foil their tech and destroy their numbers with only a handful of enemy warships. Johnson didn't even recognize the type of warship; they looked like nothing he had ever seen.

Over the next few hours of fighting the Alliance lost nearly all their ships and the ground forces were reporting casualties every other second. Johnson knew that it was only a matter of time before all hope was lost. He knew that there was no way beyond divine intervention that they could win this fight. Reinforcements would never arrive in time.

"Sir, multiple targets jumping in system," an ensign said, "They're…Geth."

"Dammit, he couldn't settle for a defeat, he had to beat us to a pulp and then spit on our graves. Frakking bastard," Johnson said with barely contained fury.

"Uh, sir? They're moving on an intercept course with the enemy warships. The warships are breaking to engage," said an ensign, disbelief evident in his voice.

"What? That's impossible! Show me," Johnson said while moving toward the ensign's console.

Johnson stood silently as he looked at the console, seeing the geth engage the enemy. He saw the warships doing precision FTL jumps around the enemy warships, firing every time they stopped travelling at FTL speeds. One, two, then five of the enemy warships were destroyed this way.

"Sir, Geth dropships moving to the planet's surface," an ensign said in awe.


	9. Chapter 9

"Billy, grab your toy, we have to go," Caren said in a shrill and fearful voice. She was grabbing everything that mattered to her. Her husband's ashes, the necklace her mother gave to her, and one picture of her husband and her son at the lake.

"Mommy, what's going on? I'm scared," Billy cried in fear.

"Hush, honey, it'll be all right. We just have to leave as fast as we can, alright," Caren said quietly. "Now try to be quiet for mommy, ok? We have to go."

The two of them sneaked out the back door of their house and across their farmland in the direction opposite the gunfire. They were able to get to the lake where Billy took the picture with his father before seeing another living being.

"Caren? Caren is that you? It's me, Jim. Have you seen my wife? My children? They were at the market buying food," Jim asked with fear in his eyes.

"Jesus, Jim, you nearly gave me a heart attack," Caren said holding her chest. "No I haven't seen them, but I'm sure they're fine," she lied.

Jim looked over Caren's shoulder at the town and the explosions. "Oh God," he said. "Oh God, please no," he whispered as he began walking towards town.

"Are you crazy? We have to go the other way," Caren exclaimed as she grabbed his arm, stopping him from going closer to the town. "If you go there you'll die."

"But my family is in there, I have to look for them," Jim said as he tried to pull his arm free of Caren's grip.

"Jim, what could you do to help them? You didn't even bring your rifle, what could you possibly do other than get yourself killed," Caren asked him while looking him in the eye.

"C'mon Jim, lets go," she said in a softer tone of voice. Jim reluctantly stopped fighting her grip and the three of them moved on around the lake to get to the forest on the other side.

Once at the forest they met up with a large group of survivors which did not contain Jim's wife and children.

Caren comforted Jim with a hug and the three of them sat in silence until nightfall.

After dark had fallen, the fighting had become more sporadic, less intense in town and several survivors had decided that the Alliance must have won the battle and that it was safe to go back into town.

"I have to go with them Caren, I need to find my family," Jim said.

"Jim, what if the fighting has died down because the bad guys are winning? What if there are only a few Alliance soldiers left alive? You would die, that's what," Caren said with her hands on her hips.

Jim thought about this but before he could reach a decision the sound of one of those wailing enemy dropships was heard getting closer. The group of survivors huddled together in fear, hoping beyond hope that the dropship wouldn't see them and would just pass over, but it didn't. Instead it hovered just outside the forest and offloaded dozens of troops. The survivors had only a handful of weapons and no training, and as the situation began to sink in most of the survivors panicked. They screamed and fled in the opposite direction but they became the first to be gunned down. Dozens of the hundred or so survivors were dead before anyone had time to fire one of their weapons. The survivors were facing certain death and they knew it, but someone loved them.

At that moment a Geth dropship flew in and destroyed the enemy dropship and offloaded dozens of troops that immediately cloaked. Before the enemy had time to react every mobile platform opened fire with devastating accuracy, ripping through the enemy's shields in only a handful of shots, killing them not long after. The survivors had no idea who was helping them but the smart ones chose this moment to run, and the others followed. They made it to the only clearing in the forest before the Geth caught up with them.

"Caren, are you all right," Jim asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine, just skinned my knee," she responded, nursing her bleeding knee. "Billy, come here, have some nutrient paste." She gave her son the last of the nutrient paste tube they had carried with them.

"We won't last much longer if we don't get something to eat. This forest doesn't have any edible plants," Caren said quietly to Jim.

One of the geth mobile platforms chose that moment to uncloak, right in front of Caren.

"We can help," it said, but it was lost in Caren's scream and the subsequent screams of the other survivors.

"Jesus, somebody shoot it," Caren screamed while cowering on the ground. Just as the men with the guns were bringing them to bear the mobile platform cloaked again, but not before leaving an unopened tube of nutrient paste at Caren's feet.

"What the hell," she asked on seeing the tube. "Where did this come from?"

"The robot left it," Billy said.

"What," Caren and Jim said in surprise. They never did get to solve that riddle as gunshots could be heard nearby which prompted the survivors to move.

They dodged several proverbial bullets while moving through the forest, many instances where enemies were sighted but when they opened fire no one was shot. When they finally reached the edge of the forest they saw the main spaceport, fortifications, and Alliance soldiers, still breathing.

"Thank god, we're-"Caren began before seeing a Geth mobile platform uncloak right in front of one of the soldiers. "Look out," she screamed only to see the soldier acknowledge the platform and shake its hand.

The soldier then spoke to the survivors, "Well folks, a lot has happened that you don't know about, one of them being the Geth saving our hides. Don't ask me why, I have no idea, just follow me, we have to get you into the bunker."


	10. Chapter 10

"Johnny, left side," Sergeant Williams yelled. Johnny started shooting at the cloaked enemies that were trying to creep in on the left.

"Damn Sarge, these goggles sure are frakking useful," Johnny said during a short break in enemy fire.

"No freaking kidding, private, now pay attention," Williams said in response.

"Incoming group of survivors, prepare to concentrate fire on the right side," said Blinkie, the geth mobile platform next to Williams. Blinkie was a nickname Williams decided to give it because its flashlight head randomly went out and back on. "Mobile platforms acting as shields, do not shoot them," it continued.

"Wait, what? What do you mean shields," Williams asked with a puzzled look on his face.

"There will be a ring three layers deep surrounding the survivors made of mobile platforms, shielding them from harm," Blinkie explained. "They will be firing in all directions and dropships will prevent aerial attacks from reaching the survivors."

"You lost me at shielding them from harm," Williams said. "You are actually willing to just sacrifice bodies in order to protect those survivors? Just throw them away? That is the first sign of a bad leader."

"The mobile platforms are expendable; the only loss is a material loss. All the Geth runtimes are backed up on the ships in orbit, the mobile platforms are insignificant," blinkie said. "The geth have no leaders, we share consensus on decisions. If we decide on a course of action that means that all geth runtimes are in agreement."

"Never mind, forget I said anything," Williams said with a lost look on his face. "I don't get payed to understand AI," he whispered to himself. He looked up and saw the group blinkie referred to and said, "Alright marines, time to earn our pay! Give 'em hell!"

The next several hours were spent ferrying survivors from the forest to the bunker, and Williams got to see just what Blinkie meant when he said protect from aerial attacks. Missiles were launched to go over the Geth mobile platforms and the hovering dropships put themselves in the line of fire, taking the hits that were meant for the survivors. Several larger missiles were sent from enemy dropships to destroy the bunker, and geth dropships took those ones too, only this time they were destroyed.

After witnessing one of these selfless acts of courage during a lull in fighting Williams said to Blinkie, "You know, if an organic dropship did that they'd be called heroes and given medals posthumously. They would have their stories told to generations of military recruits."

"Everyone must do their part in this fight or else all life will die. The Reapers are a threat to all life in the galaxy, synthetic and organic alike. We happen to be able to back up ourselves, making our forms less important. Organics can't, thus they must be protected," Blinkie responded.

"Uh-huh. You lost me at Reapers, who are they," Williams asks.

"The Reapers are the reason we are here, the reason the enemy is here. They are a race of synthetic organic constructs that have been exterminating galactic civilizations for millions of years. They seek to continue their cycle and we are here to stop them," Blinkie responded.

"Well, they sound pretty terrible, but if they aren't worse then these bastards," Williams points at a dead alien, "Then we have nothing to worry about." He smiles at Blinkie.

Blinkie responds bluntly, "They are worse, and they are far larger. Sovereign was a Reaper." Just then their conversation was halted by a new wave of enemies. This continued for several hours.

During another lull, Blinkie said, "All enemy warships have been destroyed, dropships routing enemy dropships now."

"What," Williams and Johnny asked after sucking down water.

"The fight is over, we won. The only enemies left are ground forces and dropships that have no warships to return to," Blinkie explained.

"Really? How do you know that," Williams asks.

"We are in communication with the warships in orbit, we saw the last enemy warship destroyed," Blinkie responds.

"What do you mean 'You saw'," Johnny asks. Both men lean forward.

"It is unimportant, just know that soon you may return to your ship of origin, or if that ship has been destroyed you will be picked up by your allies," Blinkie said.

"Oh, about damn time," Johnny said. With that, the battlefield became quiet; the sound of the carrion birds squawking the only sound that could be heard. The bodies of the aliens and mobile platforms were strewn across the battlefield like some perverted abstract art piece. Their blood and fluids were the only liquids on a concrete canvas.

After only a half an hour Blinkie said, "All hostiles killed, returning to base." With that he and all the other mobile platforms began to pick their way across the battlefield to a spot where the dropships could pick them up.

Wait, what? Where are you going," Johnny asked as he ran to catch up to Blinkie. Other soldiers could be seen doing the same all across the battlefield.

"Our task has been accomplished, it is time to leave, we are needed elsewhere," Blinkie said.

"What do you mean," Williams said quietly as he came closer.

"Yours was not the only colony attacked. Terra Nova and Illium are currently under siege, we are needed elsewhere," Blinkie said.

"What? You just got done fighting here, you're leaving to go keep fighting," Johnny asked with a confused look on his face.

"Geth do not need rest and we do not need relaxation. There is a job that needs to be done and we are the best equipped to do it. Goodbye," with that Blinkie turned and followed its fellows and boarded a dropship that immediately left for its parent warship.

Johnny watched the dropship until it was out of sight, took a look around the battlefield and said, "Well this sucks."


	11. Chapter 11

"EDI, patch me in to the Council, I don't care what they're doing," Shepard said as he walked towards the elevator to get to the CIC.

"Understood Shepard," EDI said.

Shepard got out of the elevator and walked to the debriefing room to find that the whole crew had assembled.

"Yes," Shepard asked.

"What, you didn't think you'd be doing this alone, did you? This would be way too entertaining a thing to keep to yourself," Garrus said with a smile. "Don't be so selfish."

Shepard shook his head and laughed, "Alright, fine. EDI, is there anyone else who wants to watch? If so just patch a line to all the terminals so that they can watch."

"Understood Shepard and-"

Before EDI could finish Joker said, "Thank you, I knew there was a God."

"Alright, enough chatter, EDI, link me to their main projector in the council chambers if that's where they are," Shepard said.

"Linking now," EDI said, and with that, the ship became quiet.

Over the intercom an argument could be heard. "I understand that your men believed that those soldiers were geth, but we have no proof other than the word of your soldiers."

Vice Admiral Farla said, "Are you insane? You're disputing that the geth were there? Why? My ship has the logs of LADAR silhouettes SAYING that the vessels that helped us were Geth!"

"Try to see this from our perspective Admiral. Why would Shepard help us? He has proven that he can't be trusted and that he is our enemy with his attempted kidnap and the murder of over a thousand C-Sec officers and military personnel," the asari councilor said. "Shepard has no reason to help us which means there is no reason the Geth would help you."

"Ahem, I think I'll explain myself thank you," Shepard said with a smile on his face. It was only after Shepard interrupted that the Council and Vice Admiral Farla noticed his hologram in the corner.

"Shepard, how did you get there," the turian councilor asked stupidly.

"I have a race of AI's at my disposal, how do you think," Shepard asked with a smirk. "But it's irrelevant; I'm here to explain myself. You see councilors, you're blindness could have resulted in the deaths of billions," Shepard said while looking down on the council, "I was not going to let that happen."

Turning to Vice Admiral Farla Shepard said, "Admiral, I presented these fools with schematics of a Reaper as well as the words of two highly respectable individuals, an asari Justicar and a salarian genius, yet they still chose to ignore the threat," he paused for a moment before continuing, "I gave them the words of my team and my first hand account of an encounter with a Reaper. They called me a liar."

"Now wait just a minute Shepard-" the salarian councilor began.

"Quiet, speak when spoken to," Shepard replied coldly. He continued, "I told the council that Saren said the Reapers were real and they said I was being manipulated. I came back two years later and told them that I was working for Cerberus to take down the Collectors because they were abducting colonists in the Traverse and that they were working for the Reapers and the turian councilor insulted me with air quotes and again said that I was being manipulated. They even managed to pervert a former team member against me. Now I understand one instance but not two. They said I had a fragile mind and was being manipulated by everyone and their mother," Shepard said. "So, in the interest of protecting the Galaxy, I showed them what it is really like to be manipulated. I gave them an enemy they could recognize, an enemy they could see: Me."

"You what," the Asari councilor asked, the astonishment evident in her voice.

"I knew that you wouldn't see reason about the Reapers so I gave you a new enemy to fight. My whole goal was for there to be a mobilization of the militaries and I knew you would do that if you saw what I command and felt that I was a theat. I bore the brunt of your aggression to get you moving," Shepard said.

"Are you telling us that you killed over a thousand innocent C-Sec officers, military servicemen, and shot each of us solely because you wanted us to mobilize the militaries," the turian councilor asked in shock. "What about our fleets, they were designed to fight geth, not Reapers," he said in defiance.

"Yes councilors, I killed those officers and servicemen because a thousand innocent people is less than several billion. And you designed what I wanted you to design. I leaked the 'Intel'," Shepard said with air quotes, "That you based your research off of. That virus you obtained was a virus taken from the corpse of Sovereign, the Geth didn't write it. I leaked the information on 'Geth'," more air quotes, "detection technology that you used to design stealth systems. That information was actually taken from the Collectors. You made what I wanted you to make, and I stole your technology and improved it with the help of the Quarians and the Geth," Shepard said and waited for the council's reaction.

"You can't have, that's impossible! Our best agents took that intel from geth patrols through force! The patrols were destroyed," the Turian councilor said defiantly.

"You seem to misunderstand the Geth councilor. Those patrols were only mobile platforms, meaningless. The runtimes they housed were backed up on a space station in Geth space. What you destroyed were merely forms, not people. Forms are expendable," Shepard said with a cocky smile.

The turian councilor stood shocked, incapable of responding. Shepard continued, "You saw what happened at Eden Prime, Terra Nova, and Illium Councilors, you visited them after the attacks. If I hadn't gotten you to mobilize the militaries those planets would be destroyed, their populations gone. The fact that you had a fleet and a ground force at each of those locations is solely because of me. If they weren't there the enemy would have destroyed everything before I would have had time to send in my Geth," Shepard said.

The turian councilor said in response, "Admiral, I want him found and his forces destroyed, do you understand me?"

"Are you crazy? He's the only reason things have gone as well as they have! His forces are the only reason I still have ships and men under my command," The Farla said.

"He's manipulating you Admiral, appealing to your sense of duty," the salarian councilor said.

Farla stared at him incredulously before responding, "Sir, I'm going to have to put you under arrest. You four are unfit for leadership and I can't let you stay in command."

"You have no right-" the asari councilor began before admiral Farla interrupted.

"I have no right? You called me a liar and the only reason there still is an Eden Prime, Terra Nova, and Illium is because of Shepard. The only reason my men are alive is because of Shepard, and you are refusing to see the evidence he and I have put in front of you. You're stance will get people killed, and I am your power," Farla said with force. "A government is nothing without a military, and I command your military. As such you are under arrest." Through his intercom he said, "Send C-Sec up to the Citadel Tower, the Council is under arrest."


End file.
